Richmond McDavid Flowers Jr. (born June 13, 1947) is a former
American football safety in the
National Football League (NFL) for the
Dallas Cowboys and
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
at the
University of Tennessee and was
drafted in the second round of the
1969 NFL Draft
The 1969 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and American Football League (AFL) held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place January 28–29, 1969.
The draft beg ...
. He was also a track
All-American in college.
Flowers participated in track and field primarily as a hurdler, specializing in the
110-meter high hurdles. After capturing the NCAA championship in the event in 1968, he was a leading contender to win the gold medal at the
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...
before suffering a hamstring injury just prior to the Olympic trials. He set several records during his career.
He was the son of
Richmond Flowers Sr.
Richmond McDavid Flowers Sr. (November 11, 1918 – August 9, 2007) was the Attorney General of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1963 to 1967, best known for his opposition to then Governor George C. Wallace's policy of racial segregation.
Early li ...
, an anti-
segregationist who served a tumultuous term as
Alabama's attorney general in the 1960s.
Early years
Flowers was raised in
Dothan Dothan is a place-name from the Hebrew Bible, identified with Tel Dothan. It may refer to:
* Dothan, Alabama, a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties in the U.S. state of Alabama
* Dani Dothan, lyricist and vocalist for the Israeli rock and ne ...
, a city located in
Houston County in southeastern Alabama. During his early childhood, he appeared to be anything but a future athlete. He suffered from
asthma,
anemia, and
dyslexia
Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...
, and frequently missed school due to illness. He was also
flat-footed, and had to wear heavy orthopedic Brogans. By the time he was in junior high, however, his asthma had cleared up, and his feet began to arch. In the Fall of 1962, Flowers' family moved to
Montgomery, where he attended
Sidney Lanier High School.
[Mike Sielski,]
Flowers: 'Fastest White Boy Alive
'" ESPN.com, March 30, 2005. Retrieved: September 6, 2013.[John Underwood,]
Winning Son of a Dedicated Loser
" ''Sports Illustrated'', June 6, 1966. Retrieved: May 6, 2023.
His father was
Richmond Flowers Sr.
Richmond McDavid Flowers Sr. (November 11, 1918 – August 9, 2007) was the Attorney General of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1963 to 1967, best known for his opposition to then Governor George C. Wallace's policy of racial segregation.
Early li ...
, the
Attorney General of Alabama
The Attorney General of Alabama is an elected, constitutional officer of the State of Alabama. The office of the Attorney General is located at the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. Henry Hitchcock was elected Alabama's first attorney general ...
from 1963 to 1967 and a former member of the
Alabama State Senate. The senior Flowers was an intraparty rival of segregationist
Governors George Wallace
George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...
and
Lurleen Burns Wallace
Lurleen Burns Wallace (born Lurleen Brigham Burns; September 19, 1926 – May 7, 1968) was the 46th governor of Alabama for 15 months from January 1967 until her death. She was the first wife of Alabama governor George Wallace, whom she succeeded ...
. He drew national attention in the early 1960s when he criticized Wallace's "
Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" incident, which was an attempt to bar
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
from enrolling in the
University of Alabama. He also favored the integration of public schools and prosecuted
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
smen in the killings of
civil rights workers. His work against the era's conventions made him and his family a target of scorn, hate and death threats. The family received threatening phone calls at all hours of the night, their house was frequently vandalized, and a cross was burned on their lawn.
[William Nack,]
In the Name of the Father
" ''Sports Illustrated'', July 7, 1997. Retrieved: May 6, 2023.
Amid the chaos surrounding his father, the younger Flowers exploded onto the track and field scene. In the Spring of 1963, he set state high school records in the 120-yard
high hurdles
Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...
, the 180-yard high hurdles, and the
long jump.
In 1964, he broke five state records at the state high school championships.
[Richmond Flowers]
Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, 2005. Retrieved: September 8, 2013.
As a senior in 1965, he set regional records in the 120-yard high hurdles, the 180-yard low hurdles and the long jump. He tied the state record in the
100-yard dash
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
and anchored the winning
4 × 100 metres relay
The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...
team. At the Gulf Coast Relays in Mobile, he set a national high school record with 13.5 seconds in the 120-yard high hurdles. At an open meet in
Modesto, California
Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...
, in May 1965, he beat
1964 Olympic silver medalist
Blaine Lindgren in the 42-inch
hurdles.
Flowers received scholarship offers from more than 100 colleges,
and was heavily recruited by
Alabama head coach
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...
. He was intrigued, however, by the
University of Tennessee, where Coach Chuck Rohe was gradually building the track program into a national powerhouse. He made up his mind to attend Tennessee in 1965 following the Gulf Coast Relays, during which his father had been introduced and booed.
College career
At Tennessee, Flowers was a three-time NCAA All-American in track. At the All-Eastern Games in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
in February 1966, Flowers registered a time of 6.9 seconds in the 60-yard high hurdles, just one-tenth of a second off the world record.
At the National AAU meet in the Spring of that year, he finished second to future Olympian
Willie Davenport in the hurdles, and second to Billy Gaines in the 60-yard dash.
He was the cover photo on the March 14, 1966 issue of ''
Sports Illustrated.'' At the SEC Championships in May 1967, he won the 120-yard high hurdles and the 100-yard dash, and was named Most Outstanding Performer. At the NCAA Championships the following month, he set the NCAA record in the 120-yard high hurdles.
He was the 1968
NCAA Indoor Champion for 60 yard hurdles.
Along with track, Flowers joined Tennessee's football team, which Coach
Doug Dickey had been rebuilding into a national contender. Starting at
wingback during his sophomore year in 1966 (freshmen were ineligible to play varsity before the 1970s), Flowers caught 35 passes for 405 yards, and was named to the sophomore All-
SEC team.
He registered five catches for 80 yards and a touchdown in Tennessee's 18-12 win over the
Larry Csonka
Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Mem ...
-led
Syracuse Orange in the 1966
Gator Bowl
The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...
. During his junior season in 1967, he caught 41 passes for 585 yards and four touchdowns, and was named an All-American by ''The Football News''.
By his junior year in 1968, Flowers was considered a leading contender for the
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...
in the
110 metres hurdles
The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hur ...
. Davenport had dominated the previous three seasons, but in 1968, Flowers beat him handily at several early season meets, to the point that the future gold medalist quit his college team that he thought was hurting his chances. Flowers ran the high hurdles in 13.3 seconds, a tenth of a second off the world mark, and went on to win eight consecutive hurdles races, which included wins over Davenport,
Ervin Hall
Ervin Henry "Erv" Hall (born July 2, 1947) is a retired American sprinter who won a silver medal in the 110 m hurdles at the 1968 Olympics. In the semifinal he set an Olympic record at 13.3 seconds. He was 0.1 s slower in the final, and lost to W ...
, and world-record holder
Earl McCullouch
Earl R. McCullouch (born January 10, 1946) is a retired American football wide receiver. McCullouch was the world record holder for the 110 meter men's high hurdle sprint from July 1967 to July 1969. When attending the University of So ...
.
While training at UT on June 2, however, he tore his right hamstring. He showed up at the September high altitude
Olympic Trials
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...
in
Echo Summit
Echo Summit is a mountain pass over the Sierra Nevada in the western United States, located in eastern El Dorado County, California. At above sea level, it is the highest point on U.S. Route 50 in California, which traverses it at postmile 66 ...
just barely recovered, but struggled to a non-qualifying 5th place.
His Olympic ambitions in shambles, Flowers rejoined Tennessee's football team in time for the 1968 season. Lining up primarily at
halfback, he carried 20 times for 101 yards in Tennessee's 24-7 win over
Georgia Tech, scored two touchdowns in Tennessee's 42-18 win over
UCLA, and most notably scored Tennessee's lone touchdown in the Vols' 10-9 victory over Alabama.
He finished his football career at UT with a then-school record 101 catches for 1,172 yards and nine touchdowns, 140 rushes for 481 yards and seven touchdowns, and 19 kick returns for 411 yards.
[Richmond Flowers]
Tennessee Football All-Americans, UTSports.com. Retrieved: September 8, 2013.
Professional career
Dallas Cowboys
Flowers was selected by the
Dallas Cowboys in the second round (49th overall) of the
1969 NFL Draft
The 1969 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and American Football League (AFL) held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place January 28–29, 1969.
The draft beg ...
. He was chosen as an athlete, so he spent his first weeks in
training camp on both offense and defense, before focusing on
safety. In his first year, he was mostly used on
kickoff returns (21.6 yards average), before being placed on the
taxi squad to make room on the roster for an injured
Bob Hayes.
In
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
, he was beat out for the
free safety
Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...
position by the undrafted rookie
Cliff Harris. After Harris was forced to leave the team because of military service obligations, he received the opportunity to start two games, but was eventually replaced in the starting lineup by
Charlie Waters. His most important play as a Cowboy came against the
Cleveland Browns, when the Browns had to
punt while backed up against their
end zone, he replaced an injured
D. D. Lewis and blocked the
punt that led to a game-winning
field goal
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
, for a final score of 6-2. In
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
, he returned to a reserve role and was waived on October 25, one day after the Cowboys defeated the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
in the first game at
Texas Stadium.
New York Giants
On October 25,
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
, the
Washington Redskins claimed him off the waiver wire, but ended up sending him to the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
on October 27, to complete the trade for
Clifton McNeil. As part of the transaction, the Giants originally received a fifth (#121-Larry Edwards), sixth, and seventh round (#177-Mike Zikas) draft choices, before accepting Flowers and returning the sixth choice back.
In
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
, he was named the starter at
strong safety
Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...
and had his best season in the
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
, recording 4 interceptions. In
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
, he was injured in the second game of the season and missed six games before being activated on November 10.
While playing for the Giants he also was a part of the
International Track Association
The International Track Association (ITA) was a professional track and field organization that existed in the United States from 1972 to 1976.
The ITA initially attracted many of the big track and field stars of the day to run in its meets and in ...
, where he was contacted by the founders of the
World Football League
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...
.
Houston Texans/Shreveport Steamer (WFL)
In
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
, Flowers signed with
the Hawaiians
Hawaiians are the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiians or The Hawaiians may also refer to:
* The Hawaiians (WFL), a football team in the World Football League from 1974 to 1975
* The Hawaiians (film), ''The Hawaiians'' (film), a 1 ...
of the
World Football League
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...
, becoming the first
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
player to sign with the new league. His rights were later sent to the
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
, where he worked in the team's front office, while his Giants contract ran out and he could return to play. On September 23, the team relocated to
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...
and changed their name to the
Shreveport Steamer
The Shreveport Steamer were a professional American football team in the World Football League. The franchise began the 1974 season in Houston, Texas, as the Houston Texans (no connection to the current NFL team of the same name), playing their ...
.
Personal life
Described by the 1967 Tennessee football media guide as the "aspiring J.P. Morgan of the squad" for his habit of analyzing stocks while the team was en route to away games, Flowers collected a business degree from Tennessee. After his professional football career, he obtained a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from the
University of Alabama School of Law, and briefly practiced law in Nashville. In the early 1980s, he became Vice President of REFCO, a Chicago-based commodities trading firm. In 1983, Flowers lost millions of dollars on a bad investment, and was censured and fined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
He relocated to
Coral Gables, Florida, where he began to rebuild his life. Following
Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged ...
in 1992, Flowers moved to Birmingham.
He has worked as a salesman for NuSkin International since 1989.
Flowers was named a "Living Legend" for SEC football in 1998,
and was listed among the twenty-five greatest SEC athletes by ''The Birmingham News''. He was named to the
Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Flowers and his father were the subjects of the 1989 CBS
television film, ''
Unconquered'', starring
Dermot Mulroney
Dermot Mulroney (born October 31, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in romantic comedy, western, and drama films. Appearing on screen since 1986, he is known for his work in various films such as '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' Stay ...
as Flowers and
Peter Coyote as his father.
Unconquered (1989)
IMDb.com. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
Flowers' son, Richmond Flowers III, was a state champion hurdler in high school and was a member of the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins practice squad
In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...
s in the early 2000s. He is currently an offensive assistant in the NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
.
References
External links
Flowers: 'Fastest white boy alive'
Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame bio
Alabama Sports Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flowers, Richmond
1947 births
Living people
American male hurdlers
Sidney Lanier High School alumni
Alabama lawyers
Players of American football from Dothan, Alabama
Players of American football from Montgomery, Alabama
American football safeties
Tennessee Volunteers football players
Tennessee Volunteers men's track and field athletes
Dallas Cowboys players
New York Giants players
Shreveport Steamer players
University of Alabama School of Law alumni